Dave wrote:
>Does anybody have a copy of the JPG that was floating
>around 5 years ago of the climber that was evacuated
>out of Tucks? The picture was of his midriff (ok, beer belly).
>He had been practicing self-arrest and had impaled
>himself with the shaft of the axe.
>Definitely took the wind out of my sails in terms
>of my interest in learning self arrest.

The thing is, in situations where you may need to self-arrest, it has to be
pretty much an automatic response with little or no thinking. You simply
don't have the time to "remember" how to self arrest. *Lots* of practice is
the only way to build up this skill. Yes, practicing involves tossing
yourself down steepish slopes while holding something with two sharp points
and two sharp corners on it. And you have to learn how to do it head first,
feet first, ventral or dorsal in both those positions, and tumbling. No one
ever said learning this mountaineering stuff is without risk :-)